Preparedness month events in full swing at Team Dover

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William Johnson
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  If a disaster hit Team Dover or your family, would you know what your emergency plan is? Do you have emergency supplies to get you through a couple days during an emergency situation?

If you answered no to these questions then the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Management has a simple message for you.

"Get a preparedness kit, make a plan and be prepared," said Tech. Sgt. Miranda Mal, 436th CES emergency management NCO in charge.

September is National Preparedness Month and every week focuses on a different theme on how to prepare and respond to each event. Week one focused on floods, week two was wildfires, week three was hurricanes and week four the focus will be on power outages.

Team Dover kicked off National Preparedness Month by hosting a Block Party Sept. 3, 2015, in base housing.

"Our goal is to really get the message out about preparedness," said Mal. "We have a lot of giveaways and informational handouts to give to people to get them started on things like building a kit for their family and having an emergency plan."

Numerous emergency responders from Team Dover and the local community set up stands and demonstrations to help teach emergency preparedness. The 436th Security Forces Squadron interacted with young children to get them comfortable with speaking to law enforcement officers, firefighters taught exit drills in the home, or EDITH, and the 436th Medical Group taught basic first-aid including CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.

The Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) sent its Citizen Corp to the block party to hand out emergency supplies, bags and spiral-bound informational books to be stored with emergency kits.

Marny McLee, DEMA Citizen Corp program manager, is a retired Air Force technical sergeant who was stationed at Dover AFB from 1991-1995. McLee manned the DEMA stand at the Block Party and said DEMA has a new message this year; prepare, support and recover.

"We are here to have all groups working together to save lives and property," said McLee. "We are here to help you, to help you prepare, support you and your family during a disaster and to help you during the recovery phase."

The Citizen Corp along with Kent County Emergency Management also hosted the 11th Annual Family Emergency Preparedness Day at the Delaware Agriculture Museum and Village in Dover, Delaware.  The event featured numerous exhibits and interactive demonstrations that further strengthen the message about having a plan and being prepared.

National Preparedness Month wraps up with National PrepareAthon! Day. The event is a campaign for action to increase community preparedness and resiliency to deal with emergency situations. The campaign offers easy-to-use preparedness guides, checklists and resources to help individuals prepare for common natural hazards and to take action, including downloading alerts and warnings, holding a drill or safeguarding important family documents.
 
You can create an account with the Federal Emergency Management Agency at http://www.community.fema.gov/ to log your emergency preparedness practices and see how more than 21.5 million registered users are preparing for their next emergency. More information about emergency preparedness can also be found at http://www.ready.gov/.

To see photos from the Emergency Management Block Party click here.